'He' versus 'Yo'

Question

Hi,

In this sentence 'he' (spanish) is used but transalated into 'I' (english). But i don't understand why.

por cierto, he reservado una mesa para dos en el mejor restaurante.

thanks in advance!

Welcome to SD - please complete your SD profile - it helps us help you - gracias. - ian-hill, Apr 18, 2014

Answer 1

This is using the present perfect, a conjugated form of haber plus the past participle.

“He” is the form of “haber” conjugated to “yo”.

So:

(yo) he reservado= (I) have reserved

He= have in this sentence

Spanish does not include subject pronouns when they are implicit by the conjugation of the verb. This is very different from English when a subject is almost always required- we stick "it" in even if we aren't quite sure what it refers to "it is raining"- what is raining- the sky, the world, the weather?

Since “he” can only imply “I” have- the “I” is dropped.

Unlike English where have can be I have, we have or you have.

He reservado= I have reserved

With the "yo" being left unsaid in the Spanish, and "he" corresponding to the have.

ah so that is the logic behind it! clear, difficult but clear :) - alejandro1979, Apr 18, 2014

You get used to it, and it becomes automatic. :) - bosquederoble, Apr 18, 2014

:) - ian-hill, Apr 18, 2014

Answer 2

He is a conjugated form of the verb haber, which is one of the auxiliary verbs like have, will, etc.

However, we don't have say the I, just the verb. The conjugated form of the verb plus the

rest of the sentences gives you the idea.

Yo he- I have

Tu has- You have

El/Ella ha- He/she has

and so on.

¿He contestado tu pregunta de una forma clara?

Espero que hayas entendido algo de lo que te he explicado hasta ahorita.

Answer 3

He reservado = I have reserved. Has reservado = You have reserved. Ha reservado = He or she has reserved